Resolutions for a Happy New Year

As the year draws to a close, I am looking forward to starting 2013 with a fantastic family holiday! We fly out in four days and I'm sure that I will have some photos to share on our return.

Meanwhile, as it's New Years Day tomorrow, I was thinking about some resolutions to see in the new year. I turned to Pinterest for some inspiration and this beautiful collection smiled at me. Perfect thoughts for my new year! 

Source: Pinterest

Happy New Year to all! 

Christine xx 

Christmas creativity - Gift bags for Julia's teachers

At the end of the school year, Julia (Miss 6) and I put together some handmade gift bags for her wonderful Kindergarten teachers. Some goodies were handmade by Julia, some by me, and some by friends. 

These gorgeous bags are from Amanda at Appleberry Kids. 

Inside the gift bags... 
handmade card and butterfly magnet by Julia; 
mug cosy, tree decoration and card handmade by me; 
sticky notes note book by Cassy at Cards by Cassy; 
Alice in Wonderland necklace by Kelsie at Pretty Little Piper; 
zip pouch from Johanna at Onepear; 
Christmas tree biscuit from Beck at Becca's Biscuits beautifully decorated by Julia; 
and a Starlight Foundation chocolate star. 

Julia and I had so much fun choosing and making things to include in the bags and Julia's teachers loved their gifts! 

Counting down to Christmas? Eeeek... it's Christmas Eve! Merry Christmas everyone! 

Christine xx

Christmas creativity - Julia's goodie bags

Julia (Miss 6) has had a fabulous year in Kindergarten this year. She has been lucky to have the most awesome teachers and has made lots of new friends. 

She decided to make goodies bags for her classmates this year and fill them with some small gifts like a pencil, balloon, a chocolate Santa and a handmade Christmas card. 

The bags were so colourful and the kids loved them! 

Counting down to Christmas? Eeeek... only 1 week to go! 

Christine xx

Christmas creativity - Julia's first sewing project

Julia (Miss 6) has taken an interest in sewing, having received a toy sewing machine from a friend for her birthday. 

Last weekend, she and I decided to make a Christmas stocking for her much loved teddy bear Lollipop. She didn't want him to miss out on Santa's visit this year. 

We drew a stocking pattern on paper which she cut out. I then cut it out of felt for her (using the "good scissors"), and also some letters for Lollipop's name. She hand stitched all around the edge and glued the letters into place. 

As you can see, she was so proud of her handiwork! 

Counting down to Christmas? Eeeek... only 2 weeks to go! 

Christine xx

Rainbow surprise cupcakes

I had to make cupcakes to take to school for Julia's birthday. Inspired by ideas and pictures on Pinterest, I made these rainbow cupcakes which the kids loved! 

Happy Birthday Julia! 

Lots of cupcakes ready to take to school. 

Here's the surprise! 

Recipe: You can't go wrong with a cake mix! Take 1 or 2 packets of vanilla cake mix and follow the directions on the packet to make the cake batter. Divide mixture into three bowls, add food colouring to each bowl and mix well. Put one spoonful of each colour into patty pans and bake. When cool, cover with frosting and sprinkles. 

P.S. The cupcakes I made for school didn't have quite as much frosting on them... that was the one I saved for me! 

Christine xx